Our Chicago client (and friend) Marsha was chosen as part of the Ireland Reaching Out project and featured in the Tar Abhaile video as they traced her roots back to Ireland. We helped her research her Irish relatives in Chicago and now you get to see what she learned on her journey back to County Limerick. This is a fun video and I love how it is spoken in Gaelic. And of course there are great views of Chicago to begin the Journey. Enjoyhttp://www.tg4.ie/en/player/tg4-player.html?id=2841564288001&title=Tar+Abhaile

My first experience with the Daughters of the American
Revolution was at the very beginning of my family research. As a matter of fact, the DAR was there to
help me solve the very first mystery that drove me crazy for weeks about my
great-great grandmother Eliza.

I had no idea that Eliza even existed. She died at the young age of 24 in 1872 in
Rosamond, Illinois (population 205), and before vital records were required by
the state. It wasn’t until I found a
tattered letter in the bottom of my mother’s files where I read the story of
the early death of Eliza. The letter
also mentioned the cemetery where she was buried, but that was 132 years ago
and a lot of time to erode the etchings on the oversized headstone.

When I called the county’s chamber of commerce, they gave me
the name of a local man who was the caretaker of this small but mythical
cemetery. Upon returning my phone call,
he first shuffled some papers and immediately confirmed that he did have a
record of Eliza being buried at the Rosamond Cemetery in 1872. In fact, he explained to me how the DAR spent
time in 1962 recording every headstone in the cemetery and it was the only
record he had with an index of older graves.
1962 may sound like yesterday, but every year that goes by is another
year for the outside elements to wear away the script on the headstone. And 50 years later, her marker is barely
legible.

What the DAR did to record a 90 year old headstone is
monumental to my family research today.

The Daughters of the America Revolution is a truly amazing organization
with dedicated volunteers and a commitment to preserving our American History,
including mine. And best of all, our
family was lucky enough to have a Patriot that fought in the American
Revolution. I was able to document this
Patriot, apply to the DAR, and successfully be accepted as a member within a
month of my first contact.

Based on what I have learned about the process of applying
to become a member of the DAR, here are some tips I can offer up for a
successful outcome.

Visit the national Daughters of the American Revolution
website to verify if your Patriot has already been documented.If your Patriot is listed in the index, you
can then buy the lineage report that details how far down the line the society
has proven records.This will tell you
which ancestor in your line that you need to start documenting.

Determine
which local chapter you are interested in applying through.Each chapter’s rules for applying are
different.I filed my application in
Chicago and it was a very easy process where I was able to send all the
documents via email.I didn’t even have
to print anything out.The historian
filled out the application for me and federal expressed it to me for my
signature.I was approved in all of 4
weeks.However, I also have worked on a
membership for a client in a very small town in Mississippi.This local MS chapter didn’t have a budget
for paper, so I had to mail 2 copies of every document.We were approved in less than 2 months.

Do your legwork up front before applying.Gather all your documents for each generation
and make sure you have them scanned into your computer in file folders.I strongly recommend you save and send every
census record for each ancestor too.These may or may not be needed, but I have learned over time that it is
better to include everything, otherwise there can be delays due to additional
documents needed.

Each generation that requires documents needs to
show clear proof of a connection to their parents.

Government Vital Records (Birth, Marriage and
Death certificates) are required for each generation.Once you get far enough back where vitals
were not mandated by the state, then records with clear proof of a family
connection to the prior generation need to be found.This can be in the form of Wills, Land Records,
Newspaper Obituaries, Pension Records, and Bible Records (as long as you have
the original bible in your possession).

Effective January 1, 2014, t

he DAR will accept Y-DNA as a supplemental tool of
lineage.

Be patient and don’t get frustrated.Delays are inevitable as you need to
completely satisfy the society that you are tracing the correct lineage.But the reward is worth the wait, and your
descendants will thank you for your hard work in passing down this bit of
family history.

2013 is almost behind us and as another anniversary for
Ancestry Sisters approaches, we look back at some of our most interesting
research, which includes multiple divorces with named accomplices; a child
given up for adoption only to be given back when the parents were re-married;
murder; suicide; orphaned children and more. One of these is even a story
involving our own family. A story we
have been working on for many years, even before Ancestry Sisters was
formed. It’s one of the reasons we now
do this full time.

Once upon a time, way back in the late 1800’s, there lived
a young woman who took several different partners to her married bed. Upon discovering her with her friend,
her husband divorced her and named her friend in a divorce suit. Not once, but twice he divorced her, naming
2 different friends. The divorce
decree(s) reads like a soap opera! Who
knew that way back when, a friend could be named in a divorce suit? The wronged husband was given custody of the
minor child, only to then give this child up for adoption. But, when the couple eventually got back
together after the 2 divorces (was he forgiving or what?!), they petitioned the Court that the minor
child be given back to them….and that child was returned to its biological
parents. Happy ending? You decide. In the meantime, another child was born to
this woman, but whom this child belongs to, is anyone’s guess. Oh, and by the way, the couple did not stay
together.
This does not mean we are ever giving up on finding the true identity of this 2nd
child. The search continues…..

One late summer night on a rural road in the late 1800’s,
a distraught husband allegedly killed his wife. When discovered by the authorities a few days later, he stole the
gun from the Sheriff and killed himself.
Here begins the story of 3 young, orphaned children.

A young couple from the Midwest heads West during the
California gold rush. Gold wasn’t lucky
for them, but real estate was and the family was able to buy several lots in a
city where downtown real estate was important.
So important in fact, that their child was allegedly kidnapped and
murdered, as protest against this successful family. This particular family kept us busy researching for the better
part of 6 months and we learned so much.

Everyone has heard this one….the story of how the woman
you thought was your grouchy Great Aunt, was really your grouchy Great
Grandmother. We researched and verified
several of these, and almost learned a foreign language in the process.

Our research took us to Ireland last year and among the
interesting research we discovered, was that our clients’ great grandparents
were cousins and had to get special dispensation from the Catholic Church in
order to marry. Thankfully, our client
took the news very well!

This year alone, we conducted research in more than 20 of
the lower 48 United States; in hundreds of counties; in 2 Canadian provinces;
in Australia and in 5 European countries.
We viewed close to 250 films both locally and in Salt Lake City. We attended classes, seminars and even a
convention. We put more than 750 miles on our cars in search of answers for our clients, by visiting libraries,
cemeteries, courthouses and genealogical societies, just to name a few places. We sent over 1,500 emails, made countless
phone calls participated in conference calls, learned to use a hand held voice recorder, and along the way we made some remarkable friendships from
literally all over the world. We can
practically apply for DAR and Mayflower society memberships in our sleep, and
at one point, knew more about the state of Virginia than we did about our own
home state.

Try not to be afraid to dig into your family’s past. We have as much drama and dirty laundry as
anybody else. It simply makes up our
family quilt.

Whether you are just beginning to research your family history, or you have been working on your branches for years, there comes a time to hire a professional genealogist.When to Hire a
Genealogist:

When you want to find out more about your family and don’t
know where to begin

When you are trying to find named or unknown heirs in a testate or intestate estate.

When you have hit a brick wall

When you have been looking at your brick wall for way too
long. It’s time for a new pair of eyes
to give you a fresh perspective

When you don’t have time to devote to the details. Sometimes the smallest of clues lead to the
biggest results.

When you are looking for something specific

When you are writing your family history

If you are applying to a Society that is very specific about the documents needed to prove lineage. It can be a very slow process and require a lot of legwork to tie up loose ends.

When you want to give the gift of a family tree to a loved one

When you just want someone to collaborate with. We have made many friendships with our
clients and they bounce ideas off of us long after our project is complete.

How to Hire a
Genealogist:

Learn as much as you can
about the process. I hired my first
professional about 6 months into my family research. I was specifically looking for more
information on my Irish relatives on the East Coast. The woman I hired was extremely knowledgeable
about the Irish and gave me a wealth of information, in addition to gathering
documents that I was not familiar with.
I learned everything I could from her along the way and asked a lot of
questions. This knowledge has served me
well with my clients of today.

Have a planand communicate your goals to the
genealogist before hiring them. The
genealogist can then assess what is needed to achieve your goals and provide a
proposal for next steps.

Hire someone that is
current and up to date on what is new in the world of genealogy. Social Media has become a major tool for
communicating with clients. It can be
very helpful to find someone with the following: Website, Facebook Page, Twitter Account, Blog.

Hire someone that knows
how to retrieve a hard-to-get record.
Your families lived in many places.
You don’t necessarily need to hire someone that lives in one location. There are several ways a
professional genealogist can gather those documents from any geographical region. An example would be a Civil War Pension
Record, or a simple obituary.

Hire someone with access
to many subscription databases.
There are several key websites out there that have a comprehensive
collection of documents, such as newspapers, regional records, military records,
etc. For example, we belong to several
newspaper websites. Just recently, we
found a marriage announcement from 1819 in upstate New York that helped our
client prove lineage for the Mayflower Society.

Hire someone that is willing to do the legwork and physical research. Online searches are not the only way to find documents and answers to your brick walls.

Ask lots of questions
to ensure the genealogist can help you in your area of interest.

Be prepared to pay
for document retrievals that are out of pocket expenses to the genealogist.

If travel is required
to various locations to follow the family, then that may require additional
expenses that need to be paid.

A good genealogist
will even help you find someone local to a specific area and subcontract
the work if that is needed to accomplish your goals.

If you need help
outside of the US, there are tremendous records available online for
specific countries. However, there may
come a time when you need to hire someone in that foreign country. They should be able to help you find a
genealogist in that area.

Look for an active
Genealogist in the following areas: Referral from someone who has previously hired a professional and had a good experience, Website of the Association of Professional Genealogists, Local Historical Society or Genealogical Society, Local Library, or the Website of the Board for Certification of Genealogists. We have even had clients find us from a Google search and Angie's List

Other things to
consider:

Is the genealogist responsive to your initial request for
information? This can be an indication
of how they communicate in the future.
If you are looking to complete your research in a specific time frame,
then communicate that in advance so they know your expectations.

Be realistic about results.
Even the most knowledgeable genealogist will hit a roadblock if a record
does not exist. Keep in mind that vital
records before 1850 are rare, except for church records. And even those are spotty based on the
religion and church that kept the record.
A top-notch genealogist will think outside the box and put on their
creative hat. Examples of outside the
box thinking include researching sponsors of the child’s baptism, or searching
for divorce and probate records. One of
the hardest cases we have to date is a Switched at Birth story in Quebec. We have found some key information on this
case by individually flipping through pages of the church book one by one. You cannot just rely on a search engine to
help you find the exact name you are researching.

If all you need is document retrieval, then someone local
can be your best bet. However, there
are ways for a knowledgeable genealogist to gather what is needed. This includes utilizing the inter-library system,
and outsourcing a specific job to another genealogist in a specific area. A good professional will have contacts all
around the US, or know how to find someone quickly.

Ask the tough questions – how much do they estimate this
project will cost, how long will this project take to complete, how will they
provide the documents and recaps of all findings, etc.

And most importantly, find someone to have fun with. Learn as much as you can and enjoy the
process.